"That'll Be the Day" is a song written by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison. It was first recorded by Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes in 1956 and was re-recorded in 1957 by Holly and his new band, the Crickets. The 1957 recording achieved widespread success. Holly's producer, Norman Petty, was credited as a co-writer, although he did not contribute to the composition.
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Gordon Lightfoot released a version that reached number 1 on the Canadian country charts in 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis released a version that was number 1 on the country charts in December 1971/January 1972 as the "B" side of "Would You Take Another Chance on Me". Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.
"Stuck on You" was Elvis Presley's first hit single after his two-year stint in the US Army, reaching number one in 1960 in the US.
"Stay" is a doo-wop song written by Maurice Williams and first recorded in 1960 by Williams with his group the Zodiacs. Commercially successful versions were later also issued by the Hollies, the Four Seasons and Jackson Browne.
"Lonely Boy" is an international hit song from 1977, written and recorded by Andrew Gold in 1976 for his album What's Wrong with This Picture? It spent five months on the American charts, peaking at number seven in both Canada and the United States, the latter for three consecutive weeks on June 11, 18 and 25, 1977, and number 11 in the United Kingdom. While "Lonely Boy" was Gold's biggest hit in the US, his "Never Let Her Slip Away" achieved greater success in the UK.
"Heartbeat" is a rockabilly song originally recorded by Bob Montgomery and credited to Norman Petty. It was recorded most famously by Buddy Holly in 1958. The B-side of the single was "Well... All Right". "Heartbeat" reached the UK top 10 twice: once in 1975 for Showaddywaddy at number seven and again in 1992 for Nick Berry, recorded as the theme to the television series Heartbeat, which reached number two.
"True Love Ways" is a song attributed to Norman Petty and Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly's original was recorded with the Dick Jacobs Orchestra in October 1958, four months before the singer's death. It was first released on the posthumous album The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2, in March 1960. The song was first released as a single in Britain in May 1960, reaching number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. It was released the following month in the US, but did not make the charts. In 1988, a UK re-release of the recording by MCA, the single reached no. 65 on the UK singles chart in a five-week chart run.
"Make It with You" is a song written by David Gates and originally recorded by American pop-rock group Bread, of which Gates was a member. Gates and drummer Mike Botts are the only members of the group to appear on the recording, which was Bread's only No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The Buddy Holly Story is the first posthumously released compilation album by Buddy Holly and the Crickets. The album was released on February 28, 1959 by Coral Records less than a month after Holly's death.
"Silver Threads and Golden Needles" is a country song written by Dick Reynolds and Jack Rhodes. It was first recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1956. The original lyrics, as performed by Jackson, contain a verse not usually included in later versions, which also often differed in other minor details.
"She's a Lady" is a song written by Paul Anka and released on his album Paul Anka '70s. The most successful recording was performed by Tom Jones and released at the beginning of 1971. It is Jones's highest-charting single in the U.S..
"Holly Holy" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond with instrumental backing provided by the American Sound Studio house band in Memphis. Released as a single on October 13, 1969, it was a successful follow up to "Sweet Caroline", reaching #6 on the U.S. pop singles chart by December. The song also reached #5 on the Easy Listening chart. It became a gold record and then eventually a platinum record.
"More Than I Can Say" is a song written by Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison, both former members of Buddy Holly's band the Crickets. They recorded it in 1959 soon after Holly's death and released it in 1960. Their original version reached No. 42 on the British Record Retailer Chart in 1960. It has been notably performed by singers Bobby Vee and Leo Sayer.
"When Will I Be Loved" is a popular song written by Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers, who had a US top-ten hit with it in 1960. Linda Ronstadt covered the song in 1975, and her version was an even bigger hit in the US, peaking at No. 2. Vince Gill also covered it in 1994 on the soundtrack of the film 8 Seconds.
"Raining in My Heart" is a song recorded by Buddy Holly on October 21, 1958 at the Pythian Temple on West 70th Street in New York City, with the orchestral backing by Dick Jacobs. The music and lyrics are written by the songwriting team of Felice Bryant and Boudleaux Bryant. It was released as a single on Coral Records in 1959, peaking at number 88 on the Billboard chart as the B-side of "It Doesn't Matter Anymore". This recording was included on Buddy Holly's first "greatest hits" compilation album, The Buddy Holly Story, that was released in March 1959.
"An American Dream" is a song written by Rodney Crowell. He recorded it under the title "Voilá, An American Dream" on his 1978 album Ain't Living Long Like This, and released it as the B-side to that album's single "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I".
"Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)" is a song composed by Joe Tex and Buddy Killen, and released by Tex as a single in December 1976, bringing the musician back to the top 40 of the US pop and R&B charts simultaneously for the first time since 1972's "I Gotcha". Tex used his aunt Bennie Lee McGinty's name as composer for tax reasons.
"It's So Easy!" is a rock-and-roll song written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty. It was originally released as a single in 1958 by the Crickets but failed to chart. It was the final release by the Crickets when Holly was still in the band.
"Stoney End" is a song written by Laura Nyro and released in February 1967 on her debut album More Than a New Discovery. According to childhood friend Alan Merrill, Nyro originally intended the song, a gospel-inflected uptempo piece, to be performed at a slower pace. The best known recording of Nyro's album version of the song was a hit for Barbra Streisand in 1970.
"This Is Your Song" is a song written by Paul Anka, originally recorded as the B-side of his non-album single, "While We're Still Young", and produced by Arif Mardin in 1972, during Anka's short period on Buddah Records. That single fell just short of the top ten on the Canadian pop chart. But Anka offered the song to his protege, pop singer/songwriter Don Goodwin in 1973. Goodwin grew up in Aspen, Colorado, and was discovered by Paul Anka in Las Vegas.
